My taekwondo school feels like a McDojo, and I dont know what to do.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been doing taekwondo for a while now, and at first, I was really excited. I love martial arts, and I wanted to learn how to actually fight. But lately, I’ve been having this nagging feeling that my school might be a McDojo, and I can’t shake it off.

Here’s why I feel this way:

Most of our training is centered around poomsae and basic drills. I get that forms are part of taekwondo, but we barely do any realistic sparring or self-defense. When we do spar, it’s mostly light, point-based kicks that don’t feel like they would work in a real fight.

Belt promotions happen super fast. I’ve seen people with weak technique get promoted just because they’ve been there long enough. Some high-rank students struggle with basic kicks, yet they still get their next belt. It makes me question if the ranks even mean anything.

Cross-training is kind of frowned upon. I asked about trying boxing or Muay Thai to improve my skills, and my instructor didn’t seem too happy about it. They acted like taekwondo should be "enough" on its own, which felt weird.

Another thing that bothers me is that most of the training sessions are led by 16-17-year-old instructors. While they might be skilled, they don’t seem very serious about teaching. Sometimes they joke around too much, get distracted, or don’t correct mistakes properly. It makes the whole training feel less professional, and I’m not sure if I’m getting the guidance I need to improve.

There are a lot of belt tests, and they’re all expensive. It feels like the school cares more about making money than actually developing good martial artists.

I’ve started to feel like I’m just going through the motions rather than actually improving. I originally joined to become a better fighter, but now I’m wondering if I’m just paying for belts.

I don’t know if I’m overthinking this or if I should seriously consider leaving. I don’t want to quit just because I’m impatient, but I also don’t want to waste my time if this place isn’t actually helping me grow.

Has anyone else been in a situation like this? How did you know it was time to leave? I’d love to hear your thoughts.